Chill out, man

At the end of last year Norway decided to follow the lead of the likes of Portugal and end criminal penalties for possessing small amounts of a drug for personal use. As multiple studies show, prison isn’t rehab and decriminalisation makes it easier for problem users to get treatment and leads to decreased use among vulnerable groups.

Of course decriminalisation is not a panacea: street dealers face no competition from regulated alternatives and the supply to the black market will remain unchanged. We need a legalised, regulated market to undermine the drug lords and legalisation will also provide the tax revenue needed to fund treatment and addiction services properly.

It’s high time our government realised how hopelessly it is out of step with sensible drug policy. As is so often the case when radical reform is needed in key areas, such as physician-assisted death today and gay marriage yesterday, the people are ahead of the politicians.

Sadly, the government’s silence on this truly momentous issue is deafening.

(REV DR) JOHN CAMERON

Howard Place, St Andrews